


Once More (With Feeling)

by Puckabrinaluver



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Deviates From Canon, Fix-It, M/M, This was written before season two ok, Time Travel, but i dont wanna edit it to the point of actually lining up with the show anymore lol, i haven't even seen all of season two so yeah i'm making this all up, i'm working on this rn as of 5/9/2018, non-canon parents for Keith, older!Lance, past major character death, this was back when galra keith was a headcanon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-08-09 03:29:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7784989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puckabrinaluver/pseuds/Puckabrinaluver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance has seen some pretty freaky stuff in all his years of piloting the blue lion of Voltron, but running into his younger self and his teammates who have been dead for years is probably the freakiest. </p><p>Using his knowledge of the future, Lance is determined to fix it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

With as much experience as he’d had with interstellar travel, Lance’d have thought he would be able to feel if something in the fabric was wrong. Wormholes have high capacity to mess up. It’s in their nature, Pidge had once explained. They don’t have very much physical capacity to keep themselves stable, which is why it was hard to form one and have it stay open. Lance probably should have worried when communications cut all the way out, but he was tired, and his lion felt completely relaxed, so he mostly figured space dust got in the way. He just wanted to get home, stick himself inside a healing pod, then sleep for a week. 

The mission had been hard. Not only was he infiltrating the Galra’ian communications center, but he had no backup, since Pidge had to stick around the ship and make the gigantic blue lion Lance flew in undetectable. No matter how much time had passed, the red lion refused to take on another rider (other than Lance himself, but that was a different mission in a different life), which meant Lance and Pidge were the only Paladins of Voltron. Lance only ever admitted it in his nightmares, that he wouldn’t have accepted another Paladin anyway. Not that it really mattered, without the yellow and black lions. 

Even with an only-slightly shimmering disguise, it was a bitch to get into the building. The complex itself was a monster, with sixty-something floors in addition to the width being that of a medium starship. Using the same magic that kept his face and body morphed into that of a Galra tech (when he was younger, he would have sworn that all Galra were soldiers, but you don’t get a civilization as advanced as theirs without techies.), he could read the signs that pointed him straight to the place he needed to be. There were plenty of windows to exit, if they were actual glass and not the plastic stuff that earth loved so much. There were four elevators, placed in the building corners, six sets of stairs, a little over three hundred rooms, and only one place that Lance needed. 

Luckily, it was a quick thing to find the translation facilities. He inserted a chip that linked Pidge in. The quality of the transmission was pretty shaky, but they managed to log in and change the translations of one of their messages, hoping to lead the army to an ambush lead by the Klorians, an alien race advanced enough to fight back against the Galra. 

Lance only spared a few grumbles about why he had to do this alone when the Klorians could have sent their own in. He was the best for the job, with his knowledge of Altean magics that Allura taught him. It was actually more science, but he couldn’t quite wrap his head around it, only able to get the molecules to work for him without really understanding them. It only took him six years to get to the point of using it in battle. Hunk would have been impressed, but probably would have advanced farther than Lance in training with Allura, since he was so good at understanding how things work. 

The translation was modified, and Lance was out of there. He could feel sweat pouring under his suit from the effort of his abilities. He really should have expected to lose the cloak half way down to the first floor. The people on the elevator with him gave sounds of surprise, and Lance cursed. Quickly taking out those nearest to him, he glanced around. No one seemed to want to take him down, they all just seemed scared. He grinned. Good on them. 

Watching from the reflective surface of the elevator, he prayed no one else would want to get on and he could make a break for the front doors to get the heck out of there. Of course his bad luck decided to streak, and on the tenth floor the doors started to open. Lance grabbed his Beyard, ready to fire. He ran out when the crack between the doors was big enough. Galra officials jumped back in surprise. Someone called out for security and Lance ran just a little bit faster. 

“Shit, shit, shit!” he muttered, hurrying to the nearest staircase. He reached the handle just as guards started to appear, shouting that they saw him. Turning quickly, he zeroed in on the stairwell across the hall. “Please be no guards,” he added, sprinting to the other exit and flying down the stairs as fast as he could. He made it only a couple floors down when he heard people behind him. 

Thinking quickly, he whirled around. The guards hesitated in surprise. “Make this easy. Tell me where your military plans are.” If they didn’t know what he wanted, they may not figure out what he did until it’s too late. They leaped for him, and Lance shrugged. “I guess you don’t speak english,” then let his bullets rain. No killing shots today, he thought, getting them in the legs. He was thinning out the crowd, but not nearly fast enough. He heard the door behind him swing open. He mentally called out for Blue, then turned his gun to the window next to him. Luckily, it shattered. “Nice,” he shouted, jumping straight through the opening he made.

It was a total free-fall for less than a second. Lance finally had good luck, and landed right into the giant fountain, only to be quickly scooped up by Blue. Making sure the guards heard him, he yelled over the sounds of shouting. “Mission failed, Pidge! Got discovered!” and made his way, shakily, back into the cockpit from the lion’s wet mouth. “Yikes, none of that water is gonna make you rust, right?” Blue sent a flash of humor his way and Lance sat down. “Mission accomplished,” he told the comm. 

“Hopefully they fall for it,” Pidge added. “Okay, Allura’s opening the portal now.” Lance hummed in understanding and flew through the outer atmosphere of the planet, towards the wormhole opening up in front of him. 

Lance relaxed, sending gratitude through the mental link to Blue, then let out a laugh he felt bubbling up in his throat. 

“Adrenaline?” Pidge questioned, understanding. 

“I’m going to bathe, like, ten times once I’m back,” Lance told them, watching the colors flash by. Pidge didn’t respond, and he shrugged. He could tell them when he got back. Allura was going to make an anniversary dinner for Coran and Keith the next day, so he had actual food to look forward to. Even if the anniversary of their deaths was going to be a sad occasion, Lance knew that it was okay to miss them with Pidge and Allura. 

This was going to be the fourth year without their friends. 

Lance felt the familiar tug of the wormhole ending, and he put his hands back to the controls. “Pidge?” he questioned, noting the green lion in front of him. The lion turned around. 

“Lance? I thought you were with Shiro!” Lance blinked. “Why do you sound so weird?” they continued, and he could almost feel their eyebrows scrunch up. Which was concerning because that almost means that Pidge is hiding their thoughts because he could usually feel their longer hair tickle the back of his neck. 

“Maybe it’s just a bad communication, I thought I heard you say I was with Shiro. But why are you out here?” 

Before Pidge could answer, Blue reared up in surprise. Lance’s eyes widened. “Blue?” he let out, feeling like he got punched in the gut. In front of him was an exact replica of his own lion, except they seemed to have used an older picture because the boy sitting in the cockpit was himself only about ten years younger. He heard the younger-him yell out in surprise, quickly followed by other exclamations from Shiro, Hunk, and Pidge. The black and yellow lion emerged from the same wormhole the little-Lance had.

He felt like his entire world was shattering as Keith dropped from his own and demanded, “What the hell?”

“Blue do you know what’s happening? Is this a trap?” The other lions quickly banded together as the wormholes shut. “Form Voltron!” Shiro shouted, and Lance nearly sobbed. It took them an achingly long time to come together, and Lance felt a tug of familiarity. “Wait, shit, don’t tell me we time-travelled!” Lance hissed, clocks flashing across his eyes from Blue. 

“Did he just say time travel?” Hunk demanded, and his screen lit up with the other paladins. 

“Why can we see him?” Little-Lance demanded, eyes wide and face pale. 

“Because I’m on the same frequency,” Lance guessed, trying to soak in everyone’s faces. Little-Lance had considerably less scars, and more baby fat. Younger Pidge looked less sharp, eyes filled with the same curiosity that he knew. Hunk was round and trusting, and it really made Lance want to cry. The only white hairs Shiro had were focused on the front of his head, and the bags under his eyes weren’t all that took up his face. He finally let his gaze rest on Keith. He knew he probably looked pathetic, and really, really creepy, but he couldn’t stop staring. Keith was so young, and jagged. He looked just as distrusting as ever, and Lance nearly grinned.

“Where are the others?” Shiro asked, breaking the silence. Lance tore his gaze away from the young (too young, goddamn it Lance, get ahold of yourself) Keith and faced the Shiro who could only be the same age as himself. They never really did keep track in space. 

“Pidge and Allura are probably waiting for me to come through a portal in the castle.” He didn’t say anything about the rest of them. “Listen, guys, I just got through one tough mission, and would rather go tell the whole story to everybody rather than have to repeat myself numerous times and totally wear out Blue.” 

Pidge immediately glared. “How can we trust you? You could be Galra. We’ve seen people look like others before.” Lance smirked. 

“Well, Pidge, I know that you’re talking about Allura’s Altean magic. Or maybe you’re talking a little about yourself, Katie.” If anything, their eyes turned harder.

“There are ways you could have figured that out. I don’t think we should let him in, guys,” Keith cautioned. 

“Listen to your lions,” he told them, secretly proud of the way he sounded like Allura. 

“I think that it’s really him,” Hunk said. “But, if it is, then he should remember the password we made in the third grade to make sure we’re talking to each other.”

Lance did. Back then, they were only joking around about evil aliens taking over their bodies and the other only knowing because the alien couldn’t guess the password. It turns out, there’s uses for making such a passcode. “Amy Riverdale sucks eggs,” Lance told him, just as aggressive as the day they made it, hating how pretty and mean she was. 

Hunk blew out air. “Dang. This is actually pretty freaky.” Little Lance shared the sentiment, still studying him with a suspicious glare and thinly veiled panic. 

“Look, we have to make a decision,” Shiro put in, always the voice of reason. “I think that we’d be able to contain him if he was an enemy, and it’s pretty strange that he shows up in Blue looking exactly like Lance, knowing so much. Even if he’s not telling the truth, we do need to investigate more.”

Keith huffed. “Why do we even have a vote if you’re just the decider anyways?” 

Shiro ignored Keith. “Pidge, will you lower the shields? I want to know why the castle won’t respond.” 

Lance waited as the shields dropped, and as the lions parted from Voltron he made his way in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There has been a lot of debate on Pidge and what they go by, so I'm just using neutral. I also decided not to use any actual Spanish, so hopefully you can use your imagination when it comes to me typing in English what they're saying in a total other language.

Coran and Allura waited in the hangar for their return, both beaming up as they came in. If Allura was surprised by there being two blue lions, she didn’t show it. Instead, she let out a breath. “Thank goodness you all are okay. You did magnificently,” she told them sincerely, as each Paladin exited their lion. Coran’s mustache twitched up into a curious smile.

“You know,” he said conversationally, “I was wondering what was disrupting the line, but I didn’t think we would have a repeat of happenings from 10,000 years ago.” Lance stared at the Altean, hanging back behind the group as much as they would allow. This was all sorts of wrong Lance could not even explain. For Coran to be standing there, alive. 

“This has happened before?” Keith immediately demanded, saving Shiro the trouble. 

There was a twinkle in Coran’s eye. “Actually, a few times. We would end up with two black paladins trying to boss everyone around. It could be quite the mess.”

“How do I get back?” Lance piped in, ready to get back to his family and away from the past. He already spent enough time there in his own head, he didn’t need to go spiralling down that hole again. Little Lance looked up at him with a frown, both Lances taking off their helmets to match the rest of the group. Everyone was sweaty, and Lance felt a little sick.

Coran’s shoulders dropped and Allura looked sheepish. It was weird seeing her so young, and worry-line free. The Allura waiting for him only could see through one eye, the other being torn out in battle. Lance would have to make sure to tell her before he went back to where he belonged. In fact, there’s a few things he could maybe prevent.

His thinking was cut off when Coran admitted, “I actually do not know. Allow us to take a look in the archives. Until then, how about we have Lance tell us what the future is like!” He seemed so excited, but Lance couldn’t help the wounded look that flashed across his face.

“I, uhm.” The silence was deafening, and the smile dropped right off of Coran and Allura’s faces.

“We haven’t defeated the Galra yet?” Hunk whispered, horrified. Lance wanted nothing more than to go hug his friend, but he knew that wouldn’t have been right. He watched as his younger self grabbed Hunk’s hand, looking sadly up to himself. 

“No, we haven’t,” he confirmed. 

“Have we found my father?” Pidge whispered, scared about the answer. Lance scratched the back of his head. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t be asking him these things,” Shiro cut in, saving Lance from having to disappoint them vocally. He knew Pidge could see it in his eyes anyway. It broke his heart in the same way that Pidge crying all night about it does. They never find their family, and after ten years, it seems unlikely they ever would. Pidge just shook their head and turned to leave. Hunk looked after them, but stayed put. Lance knew that Hunk could always tell what a person needed, and despite knowing Pidge for considerably less than Lance did, Hunk still understood that Pidge needed a few moments to breathe alone. Shiro’s eyebrows creased, causing mild pain in Lance’s gut. It had been a long time since he had said goodbye to his friend, and the fates thought it was funny to bring back all the pain he’d bandaged and healed. 

“Can I bother you for a towel?” he asked Coran, a bit awkwardly. Coran happily ran out of the room to get what Lance asked for, and Hunk looked amused. 

“Lance finally learned manners, huh?” Lil’-Lance pouted. 

“Low blow, dude,” he whined, and Lance nearly laughed. 

“I do sound like a total brat, holy crap,” Lance exclaimed, just to mess with his little self. Little Lance scoffed accordingly, and Lance smirked, turning away before anyone decided to ask any more questions. 

Of course it was himself who didn’t get the memo.

“So…” Little Lance began, dragging Hunk over to Lance’s side. “Can I ask about not-sad things?” 

Hunk being there was a little against what little Lance was getting at, but Lance forgave him. Nobody can know he died. ‘Dies’, Lance corrected in his own head. ‘Whatever.’ He set down his helmet and shrugged.

“I guess, since I know you’re not going to leave me alone,” he teased, trying to keep the air light. He set a hand on his Blue, feeling the comforting ease that spread from her into him. She opened her mouth, and he glared. It was too going to rust, that lying lion. ‘It’s a good thing I don’t listen to you anyway,’ Lance projected at her, and she gave a huffing laugh.

“Do I ever snag some beautiful alien babe?” Lance jr. questioned, eyes bright and confident. The older Lance knew that that was just a mask for insecurities, but luckily he’d mostly grow out of that. 

“Hm. Lemme think,” Lance joked. “I guess you could say that.” Little Lance’s eyes grew wide, but before he could start asking about how hot 'she' was, older Lance interrupted. “Don’t worry about it. Really, it’ll end up okay. That’s all I’m gonna say.”

No way in hell was he about to tell younger Lance that he was going to end up dating Keith in about a year, or even touch on who Keith really was. 

“What mission where you guys just on?”

Coran slipped in and handed him the towel. Then he looked in the lion and sighed. “I shall get you some more,” he told Lance with the firmness of someone used to taking charge. Lance had missed that. Even as he grew older, he never was one to take charge of what was happening. Allura still tried to be the strong person, but it took its toll and often left her in shambles, making Pidge become commander for many operations. That was the reason Pidge very rarely did any field work anymore. 

“Thank you,” he muttered, wiping the still-dripping teeth. 

“We were protecting shipping routes so that the Galra wouldn’t take the stuff we were sending to X’alar,” Shiro said, finally talking again. Lance knew he liked to sit back and watch, but he was about as quiet as Keith there for a while. Speaking of Keith… 

Lance looked back over his shoulder. Allura must have high-tailed it after Pidge. Hopefully they would be able to talk it out. Keith and Shiro hovered still, Shiro holding his helmet with his false hand and Keith with his arms crossed and really mussed hair. Lance snorted into his hand, then turned back to Blue. 

“Is that the mission where nothing went wrong?” he asked, now bending over to the pooled water with the damp towel ready to wipe. 

“You mean, where nothing went wrong on your end,” Hunk scowled, shaking his head. Little Lance glanced up at his friend. 

“You guys didn’t almost die,” he reasoned, and the older Lance rolled his eyes. At this age, he is pretty much a twerp.

“I just turned nineteen?” Lance questioned. 

“Yep. How old are you?” Little Lance responded. 

“About ten years older than you. I dunno. I stopped keeping track of human years.”

The implications of that left an awkward silence. Coran came back with a pile of towels. 

“Your team must miss you,” Hunk said in smooth Spanish, looking up at him with big eyes. Lance swallowed.

“Sorry, it’s been a little bit since I’ve actually spoken Spanish,” Lance managed in his home language, using his feet to mop up the rest of the water. He could see Shiro and Keith looking at him curiously. 

“Seriously?” the younger questioned, this time in English. “Hunk and I always speak in Spanish. It’s, like, our thing.” With both of them beaming up at him, Lance didn’t say the reason for this. He just shrugged. 

“I dunno about you guys, but I would like to get out of this suit,” Lance announced, giving up on getting the remaining water. Blue’s mouth was too big. He secretly promised to take care of her when she got home. Then his eyes narrowed. “Wait.” He looked down, then over to Shiro. Keith was no longer brooding, but disappeared. Luckily, Shiro was still around. “Can I steal clothes from you?”

Shiro nodded. “I guess you know where the communal showers are…” Lance pointed, scooping up his helmet and a leftover towel. He was relieved when no one followed him.

‘Finally some peace and quiet,’ Lance thought to himself. It was time to process some things. 

Seeing all of his dead friends for the first time in years was kind of fucked up, in his honest opinion. What was even worse is when he had to hide from them all that they’re going to die. 

He felt the darkness creeping up on him, and he let it wash over him, making his skin form goosebumps despite the fact the water for his shower was actually warm. Something about space crystals really made running water easy to gain access to, and Lance was grateful.

What made him feel so cold was all the memories he had… They haven’t happened here, in this world. He was still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, with his best friends who were becoming his family. Little Lance hadn’t nearly starved to death in a prisoner camp, little Lance hadn’t missed his chance to say goodbye to his best friend before he was just gone. Little Lance was sheltered in a way he hadn’t been for years. 

Lance could almost hear Allura’s voice asking how he was going to change the outcome of the war they were obviously losing.

He turned off the shower, and smiled a little when he found clothes waiting for him. He dried himself off, which took considerably less time than when he tried with Blue, and slipped into the t-shirt and sweatpants Shiro had left him. Lance still didn’t have as thick of shoulders as his friend, but he was a little too long for the shirt, as it didn’t meet his pants even with his arms down at his sides.

Shoving his clothes into the Altean equivalent of a washing machine, Lance made his way into the kitchen area. Nobody was around. 

“Probably all talking about me,” he half-way bragged, half-way sulked. Lance preferred to be the topic when he was present, not behind his back. He wondered why Allura and Coran never mentioned the time-travel thing to him in his dimensions. Maybe it never happened? That didn’t seem likely, considering this dimension seems to be the same, except with him having visited. Lance really only knew he wasn’t messing with his own dimension because he wasn’t suddenly remembering this visit from when he was younger, which you would probably expect in a closed loop. 

It was sort of making his head hurt, so he went back to looking for stuff that wasn’t the normal goo. 

“Goo, goo, goo, oh, and slightly less gooey goo. How nice,” he muttered, grabbing a plate and turning on the goo machine to a nice jell-o texture. Someone cleared their throat awkwardly, if a bit intimidatingly. Lance grinned. “What can I do you for, Keith?”

“You knew it was me?” Keith sounded caught off guard. Should he tell him they become friends, at least? No, he had to already know. They probably just weren’t close yet. 

Lance turned around, goo wobbling on the plate. “‘F course,” he said, putting on his best care-free face. He hadn’t had to do that in a long time. “You’re my rival. I can hear you coming from a mile away.” That, at least, made Keith roll his eyes. 

“Good to know you never get rid of that ridiculous rivalry in your head,” he muttered, joining Lance in the kitchen. Lance watched him grab a bowl and fork, sitting down to pick at his own food. “You are less annoying by this age,” he continued. “Which is good. Otherwise I don’t think I could handle you being on the same team as me for, what, eight or nine more years?” Lance froze up a bit. Then forced himself to relax, hoping Keith wouldn’t ever have to know he had died. Keith sat down, glancing at the older strangely.

“Well, somewhere along the line, I realized I should learn to be quiet. Galra’s always watching, and all that,” Lance told the boy. He was a bit disturbed that this kid, nearly a decade younger than him, was still causing him to flush at the ears. It was a bit of a comfort that he definitely didn’t hold the same feelings for this Keith, since he hadn’t grown up with Lance and was still just a punk. 

Lance remembered his thoughts from the shower, and immediately sobered up. 

Keith, not able to look away, noticed the difference right away. “What is it?” he asked, clearing his throat. Lance pursed his lips. 

“The thing is, there is so many tragedies I’d give anything to have prevented. And maybe this is my opportunity to do just that, if not for my own benefit, but the other me, and all of you guys. I think I have to be careful to make sure I don’t let things get even worse though,” he added. ‘Don’t want you to die even earlier in life,’ Lance added mentally, wanting to kick himself. 

Keith’s face was thoughtful. “You might have to wait a little bit before going home. Coran and Pidge are still checking for ways to send you back.” 

They both brought their utensils to their food and got lost in their own thoughts. 

Lance could remember how it was to be younger. He always needed the last word, had to one-up everyone, and was a giant ball of false bravery. Until it turned into real bravery and he realized that he did belong on the team. At first, it was hard. Everyone had something they could do that made up for a well-balanced team. In the beginning when it was just him, Hunk, and Pidge, he was the leader, but with Shiro and Allura taking over the commands, he figured out real fast he wasn’t as cut out to be a leader as those who lived and breathed the role. Keith was the fighter, Hunk could fix anything, Pidge could work any tech, and Lance felt like he had nothing. He was a decent fighter (which progressed into an awesomely amazing fighter as the years went by), and moderately understood what Pidge and Hunk were doing in their corners of the ship, but for the most part, the only thing he did was get the team in trouble. It was safe to say his confidence was pretty non-existent. 

Only when it was revealed (through an honest-to-god accident trying to impress Keith, nonetheless) that he could hit targets with amazing accuracy, no matter what the gun (or in some cases, sling shot), did he feel some worth for the team. 

“Wow, I didn’t know you could do that,” Keith had told Lance, eyebrows raised in a distinctly impressed way. Lance looked at the hole in the training dummy, then back down to the Galra weapon smoking in his hands. 

He didn’t even try for bravado. “Uh, neither did I.”

It would be a few months before the others tested him with any and all guns they could get their hands on. Between himself, Pidge, and Hunk, he figured out how to work some pretty advanced weaponry. Lance would land nearly every single shot he made. 

Lance’s memory was a bit fuzzy here, though he was pretty sure that the little Lance hadn’t stumbled across his niche yet. Lance would try his hardest not to spoil that. 

Done with his food, he shoved his plate and spoon into the cleaner. “Are they in the projection room?” he asked Keith. Keith nodded in a familiar way that made Lance ache in his bones. 

He was nearly there when he sighed and turned back. They wanted to be left alone, obviously, but it still hurt that he was unwelcome here when he could be with his Pidge and Allura, planning another attack against the empire. There was so much he wanted to tell them- don’t eat the plants off of Zalichi, always store dental floss in their lions, to keep tighter security on who they let on the ship…

It was going to be hard to tell them what to expect, when he only had a (hopefully) short stay, and didn’t exactly know what would be too much. He definitely didn’t want it to become a case of self-fulfilled prophecy. There was no way he could say anything about the death that seemed to follow them. Massacres, destruction, and imprisonment by the Galra empire all picked up as soon as the lions were found back in the skies, making people hope. Some were brave enough to fight back, but Voltron was too late to help. Voltron was too late to help itself, even, and the team couldn’t handle that right now.

Lance found himself wandering to his old room. Even in the other castle, back home, he still managed only to make it to the door before just leaving.

Once Hunk died, he couldn’t bear to go back and see the personal touches his best friend had added to make it seem less dreary. He hadn’t really slept much back then, anyway. He learned that Pidge got nightmares, too, and they made an unofficial up-till-dawn club, Lance working strategy while Pidge accounted for variables in his schemes. Allura found out, but wasn’t exactly mad. She invited them to come sleep in her room and they never really went back to their own. It was better that way. The nightmares didn’t die down, but at least the person who had one that night could go back to sleep afterwards. It made everyone rest easier, and Allura, Pidge, and him steadily grew closer. He didn’t feel the same way towards them as he had Keith, but it was quickly a situation where they could pour their hearts out to each other without any judgement or misinterpretation. Everyone just knew. 

This time, Lance pushed the door open. Little Lance was no-where to be seen, and he couldn’t help but relax at that. Being near yourself was pretty awkward, especially with the heavy thoughts he was loaded with seeing everyone again. 

The other Lance’s decor was back to the basics, and he probably still believed he’d make it back to earth one day. This Lance had given up on that hope as soon as he started referring to the castle itself as “home”. It took a lot of emotions to give up on seeing his old family, but Keith had held him until he felt alright enough to admit he was scared. So scared that fighting the Galra would be never-ending, and would transcend lifetimes, and that he would never get to retire because there would always be something bad in the universe and there’s no way the seven of them could take on the corruption on one planet, let alone all of space. Keith didn’t say anything to that, but Lance didn’t very well care about half-assed reassurances anyway. 

Hunk and him had often been found in this room, Lance reflected. Hunk’s was always messy with half-finished projects, so they defaulted to sitting on Lance’s bed remembering stories from when they were younger and arguing about who would win in a battle (Iron Man didn’t compare to Voltron and that was a fact, but Hunk kept on insisting). Hunk even convinced Lance to paint his nails, and it was only because the color matched his lion Lance had let the boy. 

“Good times,” Lance told the still air wistfully, plopping down on the dirty bed. “We should clean the sheets more often,” he observed. His muscles still ached from his fall in the previous mission. The running had obviously did it’s number as well, his legs sore. As Lance dozed off, he made a mental note to start jogging in the morning. Couldn’t hurt to be faster than the enemy. Then he was out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending a chapter with sleep is so lazy, tsk tsk. I mostly want to go to sleep myself, so I just decided to post. Forgive my sins. If there's any problems, tell me, and I will definitely see what I can do to make it right. I feel like I'm kinda taking too many liberties, but am currently deciding that I'll be okay. Wish me luck on the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh,,,,,  
> well obviously I'm the best with consistently updating. To be fair I did work on this every week since my last chapter...
> 
> Pidge is demigirl, I added galra Keith, and I'm so sorry.

It wasn’t the first time Lance woke up in unfamiliar surroundings. Typically, though, it would mean he was in the Galra’s grasp, so nobody can blame him for being a little jumpy about not placing himself immediately. It took him an entire half-minute of panicking to realize he was in his room. After that revelation, it was quite easy to remember where he was, and why there was another Lance staring down at him in confusion. 

“... You’re in my bed,” the younger pointed out weakly, and Lance groaned. 

“It’s our bed, and by the way, I needed sleep. This has all been a little crazy if you hadn’t noticed.” 

It was awkward, talking to yourself as if you didn’t share a brain. The brain’s potential, maybe, but already their memories are much different. Specific ones tugged at Lance’s brain and he quieted them with a glance around the room. 

“Fair. I just wasn’t entirely expecting to find you here,” he hedged. Then added, “You didn’t even put on a mask,” as if that was the most important thing about this entire situation. Which, while it might have been to Lance a few years (namely ten) back, but now...

Lance shrugged and swung his legs over the edge and hopped down in one solid movement. He met his younger self’s eyes and sent him a look. The other obviously had something to say, and by the looks if it Lance wasn’t going to want to answer. 

“What do you want?” he finally offered, sick of staring down himself. When he was a teen, his ears were too big, and his hair didn’t want to fall handsomely. It was weird seeing himself so gangly after all the years he’d grown out of it. 

“You were having a nightmare when I came in,” he said to his older self. 

Lance shrugged, but felt bad for the kid. He remembers the anxiety of all the bad things that could happen (in fact, he felt it now) and knew that revealing some of what could happen wouldn’t be the best course of action. He just hoped he didn’t say anything about it while unconscious (even though he was pretty sure he never did, considering he had to be tortured for the information flitting through his brain in the past). 

“Nightmares happen. I’ve seen some shit. Don’t worry though, it’s nothing like Shiro,” he added, even though that didn’t make little Lance as reassured as he hoped. 

“Shiro has nightmares?” Whoops. 

“Forget I said that,” he amended, stretching his arms above his head. 

“Holy shit,” young Lance blurted out, grabbing at Lance’s shirt. “You’re totally ripped!” 

Lance took the smaller hands off his shirt with his own. “There’s not a lot to do in space,” he deadpanned, flushing a little. There were scars he didn’t want to explain along with the enviable-muscles the younger him was drooling over. 

“I’ve never been strong,” he told Lance earnestly, and Lance felt a tug on his heart. 

“Do you know how much your bayard weighs? You’re strong,” Lance told him, weirded out enough to make his leave. “Breakfast awaits,” he put in, avoiding whatever else the other Lance might say. 

He barely heard the, “But it’s dinner time!”

It was weird, walking down the castle with yourself. When he used to walk with Keith, his swagger was undoubtedly there. With Hunk, he had to take longer strides to keep up, and often had slightly worse posture than he typically allowed himself. He had a walk for all the Paladins, Allura, Coran, and any outsider he may meet on his travels, but trying to balance out his own self (who was strutting like he had something to prove) was a bit difficult. If he walked fast, the other would pant. If he walked slow the other would take up too much room. 

He donned his soldier walk and sped past himself, sick of his own shit. Lance figures he can make his young self work for the respect the other thinks he lacks, only making him a slightly an asshole. He made it to the kitchen with the little Lance about two feet behind him. 

It was a trip to walk in and see Hunk chopping up some of Allura’s space vegetables. 

Allura wasn’t actually able to ever grow anything, she admitted after Coran died. Coran took care of the plants for her, but they never told anyone because it was their special thing, Allura trying not to kill what Coran could make thrive. She always did try, though, even still, with Coran gone and little to be happy about, she went out and watered every plant, picked out weeds, and plucked flowers and vegetables. Nobody did anything with the vegetables, Lance knowing vaguely how to cook them but never having the heart. 

“Good morning!” Hunk greeted, immediately sensing the weirdness and tensing up. But with all the grace of being Lance’s friend for years, he did not mention it. Both Lance’s were grateful. 

“Hey, Hunk,” the little one greeted, sliding up to him easily. “What’ve you got there?” 

“I’m making kinda like a Greek chicken pasta. Just, a little less pasta and chicken and a little more space veggies,” he told the boy, grinning to them both. His mouth tightened at the sight of Lance. “Shiro and Allura will be in to eat once they’re finished with their, uh, training,” he told them, unintentionally stressing the lie. Lance winced. They were probably still trying to figure out what to do with him, and whether or not he could be trusted. He shrugged off the feeling of being watched, and decided to act casual.

“Cool!” he managed, making his way to the table. “It smells great, Hunk, thank you.” 

“You keep thanking people for everything,” Pidge pointed out, appearing from the depths of the castle with their computer tucked under their arm. 

“It’s called having manners,” he scoffed, and as Pidge stuck their legs onto the chair across from where they sat, he added, “Which you clearly seem to lack. Did your mother not teach you how to sit properly?” He knew very well that her mother had taught her to pray before each meal, as well as always asking to be excused, but this didn’t need to be disclosed to this Pidge. Pidge stuck out their tongue and started their normal routine of rapid typing. 

“You sound like Shiro,” she said, meaning it as an insult. Before Lance could tell her ‘thank you for that too!’ Keith plopped down at Lance’s right. The little Lance quickly made his way to Keith’s other side, effectively making a Keith sandwich. Lance inwardly cringed at how creepy and kinky that sounded. 

He subtly began watching Keith from the corner of his eyes. Apparently not subtly enough, when Keith looked back a little awkwardly. The other Lance stole his attention away, though, immediately throwing an arm around his friend’s shoulders.

“Keith! My buddy! How’d the practice go? Heard the Gladiator totally fell through the wall,” the younger Lance chatted. Keith rolled his eyes good-naturedly. 

“It hardly fell through the wall, more like crashed through the door. Coran’s pretty mad but seemed alright with it since I finally beat level five.” 

The two made their rounds back and forth, half-way bickering and half-way complimenting each other. It was an interesting mixture of stressful and comforting to hear the flirting after all this time. Little Lance didn’t put his arm down until retracting it to gesture wildly about some idea or another. Older Lance watched on, cracking a small smile.

“Ugh,” Pidge whispered. “Please tell me the heart eyes don’t continue for a decade.”

“Now why would I lie?” he quipped back, grinning as Hunk sat down food in front of him and the others and ignoring Pidge’s raised eyebrow. It felt easier to be light when everyone else started to ease back into a comfort zone with him nearby. 

“Bon appetit,” Hunk told them, sitting next to Pidge and across from the older Lance. They all dug in, some with more enthusiasm than others, Lance and Hunk being among the top eaters of the meal. As always, it tasted wonderful, and both Lances made a favorable comment, each causing the bigger paladin to blush. 

After Pidge slunk their way back into the depths of the Castle of Lions, Allura and Shiro came to join the four. Lance immediately stopped eating to address them.

“I know that it may seem unbelievable that I am who I say I am, but I would at least like to tell you some hints that will help you out. There are some things that happened that I would never like to have to experience.” 

Shiro looked into his eyes while he sat, Allura meeting his once she was settled. It seems this was going to be a long conversation. Lance felt a little sad that Pidge left, but it was probably better he didn’t look to a kid for emotional support. It just sucked he didn’t have either his Pidge or his Allura.

“You did mention that,” Keith put in at everyone else's silence. 

“We were wondering what kind of things you wanted to inform us of,” Allura added. 

All eyes were on him. “No pressure, then,” he whispered, then quickly continued with, “Hmm.” 

“Well, I don’t know what you guys know, and therefore how I can help. I don’t want to say too much and cause a paradox. I’d ask to see your plans for attack, but that’s a little sketchy if you still don’t trust me, so I guess I’m just going to spew and you all are going to have to write it down.” 

Hunk, the reliable genius, immediately pulled out a little notebook and pencil. He stuck out his tongue a little bit, and Lance felt a sense of peace wash over him.

“Stock up on other methods of healing that aren’t the pods. We all have special abilities that form because of the lions so explore that a little. Don’t trust ladies named Nyma-” 

“That already happened,” the younger grumbled, and Lance laughed. 

“Oh, yeah, that was one of the first missions, right? Geez, these things are a blur. And make sure to research local customs before landing to avoid any misunderstandings.” 

Allura’s face grew a little sour at the last one and Hunk dotted his i’s. 

“Anything else?” Shiro asked expectantly. 

“Not off the top of my head. I’ll see what I can come up with before we send me on home.” He wanted to tell them that if Shiro and Hunk could have waited three more days before trying to escape, they would make it out. Instead, they tried to leave the enemy’s camp while Allura and Pidge were still trying to find the place, and ended up on the chopping block the next day, Lance finding them one day too late. Lance figured he would tell Shiro about what happened before he left, but it would be impossible to come up with the right words, and make it so that Shiro didn’t worry himself into an early grave. Earlier than it would already come, anyway.

The others were watching him strangely, and he cleared his throat. They wouldn’t be able to stop looking at him like he was an unfavorable alien until he stopped acting suspicious. 

“I’m just… Gonna go for a run…” he muttered, standing up with his plate.

He ignored the feeling of all of them watching the back of his head and shoved the plate into the automatic washer. The talking started up again as he made his way back down the hall.  
\---

 

After asking Coran to hunt him down more clothes (to which the mechanic responded with an enthusiastic “I will do my best!”) Lance wound up in the training arena, taking his third lap around the gigantic space and only mostly out of breath.

Having set a goal for four times around the room, he regulated his breathing best he can. There was a small chant of “1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4,” going on inside his head as he let out puffs and brought one foot in front of the other. It was one thing to run on pure adrenaline, but another entirely to force himself cold turkey for no reason other than ‘cause he can. 

It was about half-way through his last round he caught movement in the upper part of the deck. He peered up to the glass curiously, and saw Keith staring back at him. He raised an eyebrow and waved a little, quickly bringing his hand back down to continue his pattern of arm movement. By the time he was done, Keith had made his way down and was waiting for Lance with a towel. 

“I’m done with the deck if you’d like it,” Lance offered, not being able to stop the tugging at his heart. It was a blessing he had mostly gotten over his crying at every reminder.

“I was actually hoping that we could do something together, so I could see how good you’ve gotten.” 

Lance evaluated. Say yes and have to deal with Keith’s sword at his throat. Say no and have to deal with Keith’s stubbornness and probably end up saying yes eventually anyway. Lance dropped down into a stretch. “Sure, just let me catch my breath.”

Keith didn’t join him in stretching out. Keith had admitted to him once that he never seemed to get more flexible, no matter how much he worked on it, and was always jealous of how limber Lance was. This Keith was not noticeably different, and probably could barely touch his toes. Lance’s fingers found themselves on the floor way past his feet, and he could feel the other boy staring. He ignored it, as he had many times that day. 

Lance’s chest finally started to relax, allowing him deeper and longer breaths. After twisting around to make his hips release, he lazily got to his feet. 

“What did you have in mind?” he teased, knowing what Keith was going to say.

“How about we do some hand to hand?” And there it was.

Hand to hand never had been Lance’s specialty- if he could help it, he would be across the battlefield with a long-range and a good angle. Especially when push came to shove and he had to go in for the kill, not just heavily wounding. This never changed, no matter how long he spent in space, and no matter how much he had practiced to be able to get himself out of an unfavorable situation. 

Keith always liked to take advantage of this when they would decide to face off, whether they were letting off steam, beginning their own version of foreplay, or in the middle of a big argument that made them want to show the other the bottom of their boot. Keith liked to show off and one-up Lance in the arena, and while his aim was nowhere near Lance’s, he could nearly always manage to pin him in close combat.

This Keith probably had an idea that Lance knew more of his weaknesses than his own blue paladin, but the extent of that Lance couldn’t even delve into because this Keith is just a kid.

“You’re on. Are you sure you can keep up with me?” he teased, bouncing lightly from foot to foot. It was a technique he’d picked up from Shiro and Keith- both of them learned how to fight together, before Shiro had been sent to Kerberos. They joined a Taekwondo club, one of the lost arts of the United Federation of Asia, only remaining through generations due to parents teaching their children. It was interesting to learn about the language (something Lance was always fond of, especially new alien dialects) and culture through a style of fighting and meditation. 

If Keith was surprised that Lance could mirror his stance, he didn’t show it. Keith cocked his head at him, bringing up his hands and gesturing for the sparring to begin. Lance let Keith give the first strike, knowing the hot-headed boy would think because he had the first opportunity he would win the overall match. As Lance had predicted, Keith went in for a strike to the right, Keith himself being left-handed and able to put more power to his dominate hand that way. 

Lance blocked with minimal effort, saving his pizzazz for when he was going to take down his-

Well, not his boyfriend. This Keith is a different Keith and Lance had to remember that before he went in for a kiss. One of the reasons his brain doesn’t forget he’s not a kid again while staring down his younger friends is because he feels so in control. He never had this much coordination as a kid, and to be able to strike Keith back (to which he let out a grunt and tried to trip Lance. Lance kept his balance and used the force Keith brought into the movement to land him on the arm) so masterfully took too long for it to be something he could do when he was little Lance.

Another reason, Lance reflected as he deflected another one of Keith’s attacks (Keith was obviously getting frustrated. Lance had been fighting much longer than him at this point, and Keith definitely was not used to that.), is that there was always that echo of sadness that lurked just under the surface, and continued to get more and more apparent the longer he spent in this parallel world. It’s hard to shake a feeling that’s been there for four years, as he looked at Keith and remembered what he had lost before. 

Finally done with his line of thoughts, and realizing a need to actually focus on Keith (no way was he about to lose to emo trash lord of the past) Lance gave the last few seconds his all. Keith was pinned to the mat with Lance smirking down at him in less than a minute. 

Keith, despite being bright red, refused to turn away from Lance’s face, looking directly into his eyes. “I win,” Lance announced, releasing Keith’s arms and sliding to his feet, puffing out his breaths and grinning as Keith acted the same. 

“You’ve gotten better,” Keith observed, obviously comparing this Lance to his own. He stood up, only making it to about Lance’s shoulders. 

Lance noticed the flush still coloring Keith’s cheeks and felt himself suppress a laugh. Keith was totally crushing on him and it made him really smug despite the fact he already knew Keith liked him by now (by what his Keith had told him a long time ago, anyway). 

Unable to help himself, he winked, and began to stretch out again. “You’re still a formidable opponent, though.”

“I bet I’m even better in the future,” Keith said confidently, and Lance felt the razor-hot sting of remembrance. 

“Definitely,” he agreed, ignoring the way his breath hitched in his throat. 

They fell into a mutual silence, and Lance dragged his now-tired body to standing upright, then began to make his way out of the room. 

“Hey!” Keith called, jogging to catch up with Lance. Lance quirked an eyebrow at the younger boy. “Where are you going?”

“I’m probably going to go chill out with Blue after I hunt down Coran. Why?” Lance had his suspicions.

“Can I come with you? Like, keep you company?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “Shiro put you up to this.” Keith didn’t even look ashamed, just staring Lance head-on as Lance sighed. “Yeah, I can show you some cool things while I’m at it.”

Coran was nowhere to be found, so on his way by the common room, he told a startled Pidge and Hunk to keep an eye out for him and “send him my way, I’m hanging out in Blue.” The little-er Lance was probably sulking about in his room, so that awkwardness was avoided for the first time of the day, and without further interruptions Keith and him made it to the hanger.

“It should be your lion in Blue’s hanger, we had La- the other Lance put his in Red’s,” Keith told Lance and Lance shrugged and started his way down to Blue.

In the future it wasn’t nearly as awkward to get two paladins down to Blue. In fact, the lions rarely stayed in their bays anyways, Blue, Green, and what was left of the shell that was Red cuddled up in the main hall, mirroring the people who could pilot them. It helped that he had never seen Pidge sexually, and that he had gotten over Allura a long time ago, when they actually had to go through the effort of ziplining to the bays. But with all of Keith’s feelings obvious on his too-young face, Lance couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward as Keith snuggled his head onto Lance’s shoulder for the ride down, hugging tight and breathing right in Lance’s ear.

At the bottom, Lance smoothly managed to not land in Keith’s lap, despite the younger boy nearly dragging him back down, and fumbled his way to the controls while shushing a laughing Blue.

“You seem to get along really well with your lion,” Keith pointed out, crossing one leg over the other to mimic his arms as the seat made it’s way to the front console.

“Blue and I have been through a lot. Plus, between you and me, she’s just as annoying as I can be, it’s a good match.”

Blue let out a huff, allowing it to echo throughout both their heads.

“You’re not nearly as annoying as my Lance. Are you sure you’re even the same person?”

Lance felt himself wince. “I am positive that we’re the same person, Keith.”

Keith muttered out a “sorry”, and slouched back into the chair. 

Lance let the silence stretch on as he typed in instructions for a scan to find rust. The machinery whirred, and a few spots showed up. 

“Ugh Blue,” he said aloud for Keith’s benefit. “You need to stop getting into water. Just because you’re the blue lion does not mean you are water-proof!” 

She rolled her eyes and Lance mentally flipped her the bird. “I’ll take care of them once I can make sure those spots are the only ones that need fixing.” She complained back at him and he stuck his tongue out. Keith smiled a little. “That’s what you get you overgrown kitty-cat.” 

Lance shut down the panel and grinned at Keith. “Want to see something cool?” he asked, trying to push down the rush of memories.

_“Want to see something cool?” Lance asked, and at Keith’s nod, he reached out for the boy’s wrist. Keith blushed and Lance held it, then pressed the palm it to the cold wall and watched it light up._

_“Woah,” Keith whispered._

_“Wicked, huh?” Lance laughed, gripping his arm tighter._

 

But Lance wasn’t going to show Keith that.

“Uh, sure,” Keith responded, watching with a raised eyebrow. 

“It took about two weeks stranded on a deserted vessel for us to discover-” Lance hit a button that wasn’t too obvious near his face. “-this baby.” A shelf popped out, replacing the panel with the button. It held a small collection of food goo, healing goo, and containers of water. 

“That’s pretty handy,” Keith muttered, sounding strangely disappointed. 

Sure, Lance could have shown him the light show. It was pretty awesome that the lions took inventory of every time and where you touch them, strengthening the paladin-lion bond. But showing Keith the mural of hand prints he’s collected would take the honor away from the younger Lance, and since that was a key moment in their blossoming romance, Lance knew he should just leave it be. 

That, and if Keith got the grand idea to put his hand on the wall, he’d find some pretty interesting murals of his own.

Lance shut the shelf and glared in mock anger. “I’ll have you know that you will be grateful for that when you’re trapped with the other me without access to the castle. I get pretty grumpy when I’m hungry and it’ll save you from the worst of my moodiness. His moodiness? Ugh, I have to admit this is pretty weird.” Keith nodded, not unkindly, and an image flashed at the console. 

“Lance?” Coran’s voice rang up to the sensors. 

Lance turned the controls back on. “Hey Coran! Find me some clothes?” 

Coran responded with an enthusiastic story of how he did it and Lance smiled over at Keith with a roll of his eyes. Keith looked startled, so Lance let his grin drop and he spoke into the microphone again. “We’ll be right down.”

Not seeming surprised by Keith’s presence, Coran gave Lance a pretty hefty pile. “Just in case you’ll be staying a while,” he explained, patting Lance’s arm. Lance knew Coran had been talking with Allura behind his back by the way he seemed uneasy with him all of the sudden. Lance sighed. 

“Thank you Coran. These’ll be perfect,” he told him, trying to let the warmness of his voice reach his eyes. It probably didn’t make it. 

“Don’t forget to join us for breakfast!” the alien said, sticking a finger up in Lance’s face in a mother hen fashion.

“Got it, make something good,” Lance responded good-naturedly. 

Coran smiled warmly and made his way out busily, and Keith and Lance followed him back into the castle. 

"It is pretty late," Lance started.

"Can't sleep anyway," Keith muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“- He was asleep in my bed!” Lance heard drifting down the hallway, and he immediately stopped. Keith followed suit, looking at him curiously. Lance clutched onto his clothes, uncomfortable that they were talking behind his back.

“That is his bed too, you know,” Hunk said calmly, talking to the smaller Lance, who was the one who was complaining. 

“Still! It’s weird, okay? And he’s totally ripped, but he’s also me? I just don’t understand. And I’m freaking out a little and of course Keith likes him.”

Keith turned a brilliant shade of red and refused to look at Lance. Lance pursed his lips. How embarrassing.

“Look, I know you’re jealous and all-” Hunk ignored the younger Lance’s “I’m not jealous!” “-but he’s you. Maybe try, I dunno, talking to Keith nicely? Maybe then he’d like you, too.” 

“Okay, time to break up this conversation,” Lance muttered. “Act natural, you didn’t hear anything.”

He made it the rest of the way down the hall in his casual swagger, not bothering to check if Keith had kept up. He had, if the footsteps entering behind him were any indication.

“Hey Hunk,” he greeted at the gaping boy, plopping down next to him on the couch. He dumped the clothes onto the available cushion while the boys got their bearing. The other Lance was staring wide-eyed from across the room, where he had been pacing it seemed. 

“Uh, hey Lance,” Hunk said finally, shifting uncomfortably. “You didn’t happen to hear our conversation, did you?”

Lance’s face remained neutral. “Nope. I have no clue what I was talking about,” he lied, looking up and down his counterpart. “Seems like something important though. Still don’t believe me when I say I’m a friend?”

Hunk and the other Lance both looked relieved, and Hunk chuckled nervously. “Sorry, it is kind of weird,” Hunk told him. Lance felt a little sad that that was the truth.

“We’ll survive weirder,” he told the younger boy, also truthfully. Keith slid up next to the younger Lance, who gestured to the clothes. Keith muttered something in response and the other Lance raised an eyebrow. 

“So we don’t know how long you’ll be around?” he questioned, sounding like he was accusing Lance of something. 

Lance felt the urge to roll his eyes at his younger self’s obvious jealousy. “Nope. Could be months. Maybe even years.” Young Lance’s eyes widened comically, and Lance let out a laugh. “Calm down, my dude. I’ll be out of your hair in no time. Pidge is a genius, if she works with Coran, I should be gone within the week.”

 

\---

 

For one week, he manages to stay out of trouble. 

Keith sticks around, whether it be by Shiro’s command or because he a crush, Lance didn’t really know, but to be fair he never discouraged Keith’s presence. 

He worked on cleaning the rust out of Blue, who developed more spots as the week went on, and tried to handle his younger self with the grace he’d learned in the past years. But, boy, did that boy annoy him. It was like the little Lance replaced his rivalry of Keith with a rivalry of his older self. It got old fast, but Lance couldn’t help but take the bait here and again to show off to his friends, even as the little Lance became more and more hostile.

It took a lot out of him to see his old friends. Sometimes he found himself staring too hard at Shiro, or talking to Pidge with too much familiarity, or even getting startled by Hunk walking into the room. Allura seemed to want to avoid him, and he couldn’t blame her. It must have been quite the slap in the face to find out that after a decade, nothing has been accomplished. Lance desperately hoped Pidge, Allura, and their allies were making progress against the Galra, and not worrying too hard about him. 

He missed them desperately when he went to sleep; Allura had set him up in a guest room, far away from the other paladins (which probably was not an accident). He was closer to the training deck, though, which made it easy on his many sleepless nights to work out his frustrations until he could collapse for a few hours. He noticed Keith liked to watch him train, and realized he wanted to know what Lance knew. 

Lance wasn’t sure if he should reveal that he knew Keith’s past, or his Galra heritage. Sure, that might prompt a little trust, but that could also backfire and make Keith convinced that he wasn’t Lance. He made a show of stretching both before and after the many spars Keith instigated, hoping that maybe he’d catch on and start working on his weak point of flexibility. 

Even though it was Keith who kept him the most company, it was Hunk and Shiro that really got him to open up. He refused to tell them lots of things, but it was like they could guess exactly what he had been through. Shiro often caught him in the early morning, eating food and staring off into space. 

_“I know that look,” Shiro said, sitting down across from Lance. Lance’s lips twitched._

_“Yeah,” he agreed, not knowing what to say._

_“You’ve had horrible things happen to you, haven’t you?” At Lance’s silence, Shiro sighed. “I was hoping that I could protect all of you from that, but I guess not.” Lance could feel tears start to swell. He willed them away, even more upset that he couldn’t control his emotions even to this day._

_“I’m long gone, aren’t I?” Shiro asked. Lance nodded, not sure if he could bring himself to deny it. Shiro sighed again. “We’ll just have to make sure I don’t die this time, then,” he said, so sure of himself that Lance’s tears fell._

Hunk was the exact opposite of Shiro, though. Instead of asking things he was sure of, he would steer the conversation away as fast as he could, anytime anyone (mostly his younger self) would get close to the truth. Lance had never forgotten how much he missed Hunk, but he had almost forgotten how amazing he was. This was a beautiful, and horrible, reminder. 

Coran also ended up around a lot; this one seemed more natural than Keith’s presence, like the engineer just happened to be passing by rather than actively seeking him out. Coran told him stories of his own time as the Blue Paladin upon Lance’s request (Lance hadn’t known until Coran was gone that he was the first pilot of Blue). If he were as young as all his friends, then he would have felt insecure and not worthy, listening to these stories of greatness, but as he grew up he had found the confidence he had faked for so long. He told Coran this, and Coran promised to always stand by Lance, the Paladin of Blue. Lance nearly cried then, too.

When he felt overwhelmed, he would seek out Pidge. Already beginning her destructive habit of staying up late, Lance could often find them up late at night, typing away on her computer. He would sit down near her, never directly next to her, since she was still pretty uneasy with him, but near enough he could hear her breathing. She would ask him questions about things he’d learned in piloting school, but, oddly, never things about the ten years he had on her. One night, sitting to her right and watching her create an algorithm to search the castle over for Galra tech that was not Shiro’s arm, it dawned on him why she wouldn’t want to know about the future. Her hopes were dashed. He didn’t know how to reassure her that this world was different enough that she might find her family. 

They continued to talk behind his back, but he tried not to mind. They finally accepted him as Lance, and that’s about all he could ask for so soon. Coran, Allura, Pidge, and Hunk continued to put their heads together in an attempt to send Lance home soon. 

\---

 

“Oh come on, it can’t be that hard! You guys are super smart, and it can’t be that hard to open a reverse-wormhole or whatever!” Lance jr. complained. The older Lance snorted into his hand, exchanging a look with Hunk. They were stationed in the debriefing room, Allura’s hands hovering over her projections, Coran standing dutifully at her side, and all the Paladins, save for the young Keith and Lance who were standing up in an attempt to be taller, sitting on the steps for the meeting.

“Do you want to send him to the wrong place?” Keith argued, predictably. “He is you, you know!”

They were already so close that it didn’t seem practical for them to get even farther in each other’s face, but in the Keith and Lance fashion, they practically melded themselves hip to chest, glaring straight into each other’s eyes and balling their fists. Pidge looked at them over the brim of her glasses, then glanced at the Lance who was sitting next to Shiro. Lance just shrugged leisurely, knowing what she was asking. 

“You both need to stop,” Shiro commanded, sounding reasonably disappointed. “Lance, we’re not sticking Lance into a time-travelling wormhole until we know he’ll get to the right place. Keith, quit egging him on.” 

Both of the boys grumbled, but ended up sitting down, making Shiro’s lips quirk when it was next to each other. 

“Now, if I can continue,” Allura chided, “I was going to say that Pidge has come up with a way to test out different ideas we’ve had, and therefore know if we can send Lance through or not.”

Pidge gave a toothy grin, standing up and typing on their wrist computer. “It’s simple, really, and Hunk helped me figure it out. All we have to do is get a controlled area, like a particle smasher back on earth, to be able to funnel energy into until it forms into a wormhole. Then we take readings of the area and compare them to the readings that followed him when he came out of the original wormhole. If they match up, then chances are it’s the same place. On top of that, if we keep it open long enough, if it’s the wrong time, then he can come back to try again.” Everyone nodded along, but Lance felt his stomach sinking. That didn’t sound like a fast solution.

“The problem is,” Pidge continued, biting their lip. “We don’t know how to make a wormhole for the intent of time travel. Even when space and time are inseparable, my calculations so far cannot take us to times where the stars are in different positions, such as ten years from now. I can’t even figure out how to get the travelling to move forward. And I’ve been going through the old Altean notes for this type of stuff, but they all use variables that aren’t used on earth.” Lance frowned hard.

“So you’re saying he’s stuck here?” the other Lance groaned dramatically.

“Lance,” Shiro said as a warning, but the older Lance had enough.

“Can I talk to you in our room?” he asked, standing up and glaring down at the boy. The smaller Lance shoved his hands in his jacket pocket and stood up, meeting his gaze firmly. 

“I was done anyway,” Pidge muttered, but both Lance’s ignored her, walking briskly out of the room.

Lance didn’t say anything to the younger the entire way down, angry that his self-esteem was that bad when he was younger. They needed to get a few things straight. 

“Look, it’s not like I want you dead or whatever, you’re me, but you’re causing a lot of problems to the team and I thought you’d be gone a long time ago,” the little Lance blurted as soon as they stepped in his room. 

“I’m causing a lot of problems to you, you mean,” Lance bit out, angrily. “I get that you feel threatened by me, and that I’m getting a lot of attention that you’re not. But they are your team, Lance, so maybe if you take your head out of your ass and look around, you’d realize they like you, too, and not just when you’re as strong or as experienced as me.”

The little Lance looked pissed. “As if I’m jealous of you! What do I care if Hunk thinks you’re nicer, or Shiro thinks you’re smarter, or Pidge thinks you’re more mature, or Keith thinks you’re cooler? It doesn’t matter to me that Coran tells you things he wouldn’t me, or that you have more of a chance with Allura than I ever have.” Little Lance’s hands were balled up and he was shaking, tears streaming. 

“Lance,” Lance said, feeling just a bit weird trying to comfort himself. “Hunk told me one time, in the future, that if there was anything he could steal from me, it was my ability to be nice to everyone I meet. Of course he meant once I got over my hormones, of course, and finally warmed up to Keith, but still. He meant that. He thinks you’re kind, and he loves you.” The younger Lance just shook his head. 

“He told that to you, not me,” he whispered.

“There isn’t a difference,” Lance told him. 

“Shiro thinks you’re smart, too. And maybe Pidge thinks I’m more mature. That’s true, though, you’re younger than me still, and I’ve experienced a lot you have not. Coran tells me certain stories he hasn’t you because I know more about his past. Maybe if you ask about it, he’ll tell you the same ones. Keith probably only hangs out with me because he wants a fighter on his level to train against-” Lance didn’t feel too guilty lying to himself. “-Plus I dropped the ridiculous rivalry thing since I’m no longer trying to repress my-” Lance clamped his mouth shut. He wasn’t about to finish that sentence. He promised himself he wouldn’t touch on the subject with a ten-foot-pole, yet there he goes and nearly blabs all about his embraced sexuality to his very fragile self.

The silence stretches on, and Lance worries that he might have crossed too many lines. 

“What about Allura?” The younger Lance finally asks. 

“What about her?” Lance asks, confused. 

“Well, you said I end up with an alien,” Lance 2.0 pointed out, scraping the toe of his shoe against the floor. 

“Oh. Not her,” Lance responded. “Didn’t mean to give you that impression. But I really can’t tell you what happens to us, so quit asking. It’ll freak you out. Plus, I promise, we never had a chance with Allura anyway, so there’s no way what you said was true.” 

The younger Lance nodded and sniffed. “Would it, uh, be weird to ask-”

“For a hug? A little. But bring it in.” 

The Lance’s hugged each other, the shorter crying into the tank top his face was smooshed in. 

“You give hugs like Hunk,” he murmured against Lance’s chest. 

“So do you,” Lance responded, squeezing tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit guys you have no clue how long that took oh my god it was so much effort (now I'm about five weeks behind in chemistry. Fuck).
> 
> Also like it's probably really weird,,, Idk,,, I'm super tired when I get inspiration to write? So you're allowed to come in and be like 'yo, the fuck?' and I'll fix it you know?? thanks.

**Author's Note:**

> So, my timeline is roughly: Lance was about eighteen when he went to space. Ten years have passed in Lance's universe since he became a part of Voltron. Shiro and Hunk died during a war where they got executed in an enemy camp about three years before this, and Keith and Coran got basically blown up a year prior to that. Ask me any questions you have, and please point out my errors, I'm really nervous about this being half-assed considering I have such a big picture I want to fullfill.


End file.
